Time machine cannot backup my 4GB Macbook Pro to 500GB external drive

I have used Time Machine to back up my MBP (4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3) for over a year. I back it up to a 500GB LaCie external drive that currently has ~272 GB of available space. I am no longer able to back up to this drive via TM due to insufficient space, per TM. I recently upgraded my OS to Yosemite OS X 10.10, but I'm not sure the backup problem coincides with my upgrade. I launch TM, the back up begins but times out due to unavailable space on my LaCie, which seems incorrect. I'd appreciate input/ideas on how to resolve this.

See if the problem is answered here:
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
Ciao.

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